A curse or a gift?
by Fuyukazehime
Summary: Ranma's ability to change between boy and girl can be seen as either a gift or a curse. 7 Months after the failed wedding Ranma has changed a great deal with the help of his mother. But are these changes really because of her? [On Hold, rewrite pending]
1. Feminine training

-Disclaimer: I do not own any Ranma characters and I am writing this for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: This is my second fanfic, although my first one is only a single chapter so far as I was side-tracked by many things and then I came up with the idea for this fanfic. I will work on both of my fanfics so do not worry. I have yet to decide whether to make this a Ranma x Ryouga or a Ranma x Akane, but so far it's leaning towards Ranma x Ryouga. Please feel free to post any comments, ideas or tips on writing strategy. I am still new at this and all input is appreciated.

- Present -

It was a normal day in Nerima. Normal meaning the typical every day chaos was indeed present on this very day. Ranma had been walking home from school quietly with Akane when Ryouga promptly attacked.

"Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!" the black haired bandana boy lunged at Ranma with his umbrella in his typical opening attack leaving a small impact crater where the pig-tailed boy had previously been standing.

"Hey P-brain, long time no see." Ranma sighed and assumed his casual no-stance style waiting for Ryouga to make the next move. "Where ya been anyway? It's been what? Seven months since we last saw you? Why don't you give it a rest? You know you can't beat me."

"Hah. That's the old Ryouga. I have learned several new techniques since I left. Beating you will be child's play now." Ryouga assumed an unfamiliar stance. His left leg was behind him puting his weight onto his right with his back arched slightly and his hands in a standard ready position in front. "I've been training in the forests. I have no idea what forest but I met an old hermit that trained me in the ways of the wolf. I figure wolf beats cat any day, right? Enough talk! Time to die, Ranma!" Ryouga had no idea the mess he was about to step into.

It had been over seven months since the failed wedding. Ryouga hadn't been seen since then and everyone assumed he had given up and left. Ranma and his fiancees still hadn't gotten anywhere in their relationships. The first month after the wedding everything had calmed down and everyone decided to give Ranma some space due to some indications he may have been losing his mind. Genma had disappeared and Nodoka decided she needed to get to know her son better.

* * *

- 6 Months ago, one month after the failed wedding - 

It was late saturday evening and Ranma was in girl-form sulking in her room lying in her futon. She had only left her room to train and go to school in the past month. Today she ended up being splashed on the way home from school. She was glad the wedding had failed in some ways but in other ways sad. She realized she does love Akane but wasn't sure if it was the kind of love you get married for. Nodoka entered their shared room and saw Ranma was still in the slump she had been in since the wedding. She attempted to comfort her in the only way she knew how.

"You shouldn't sulk like that Ranma, It's not very manly." Nodoka held her katana losely in her arms as she sat down beside Ranma. "Why are you a girl, right now, anyways?"

"I can't change back right now, and manly?" Ranma quickly dodged revealing the fact she can't change back during her cycle, not to mention the mere fact she is capable of them. No one, not even pops knew about this. "What does manly have to do with me? Look at me. Do I look like a man right now? Why does it matter if I'm manly or not when I look like this?" She flared at her mother and sat up. "My life is a complete and total wreck and all you care about is how "Manly" I am. Well I have news for you. I'm NOT a man. I'm not a woman, for that matter, either. I don't even know WHAT I am. This is all his fault! It doesn't matter whether I have a male or female body, I'm far more manly than that sad excuse you call a husband. You have no idea the hell I've seen because of him and his stupidity."

Nodoka frowned as he said this. She didn't understand how she could say these things about the man that went to such lengths to train her for the last ten years.

"How could you say such things about your father? He spent the last ten years trying to train you into the best martial artist of this era." She unsheathed the hardened steel blade. "You need to apologize for your slandering remarks."

"Oh really? I need to apologize? Let me tell you, it was his fault I got into this mess in the first place!" She explained how she got his curse from Jusenkyo due to his father's negligence, making exception to the fact she was the one that was too hasty to listen to the guide's warnings and started the fight that ended in his curse. "How can your son be a man when he is also a woman?"

"I admit he was careless for seeking such a place regardless of warnings and the fact he couldn't speak chinese. He was only trying to make you a better martial artist by taking you there. You can't fault him on trying to train you as best he can." she said sheathing the katana,defending her husband's honor as best she could.

"Heh, fine then. Setting Jusenkyo aside, how about the neko-ken?" Ranma smirked as he looked directly into her eyes. "The neko-ken, also known as Cat-Fu, is a dreaded technique. It is said to be the most powerful martial art in existance. The training consists of wrapping the student in fish sausage and tossing them into a pit of starving c-c-cats." he stuttered at the word. "The idiot didn't bother reading the next page of the book he found the technique in, however, which stated that anyone that taught this technique was a fool. Nearly everyone that learns the technique either goes insane or dies. I was only SIX YEARS OLD! I'm lucky I survived but now I have a fear of c-c-cats."

"Oh dear, how horrible. That explains why you always ran away from cats." Nodoka replied as a sad look came to her face.

"To make matters worse. Whenever my fear reaches it's peak I start to act like one." Ranma cringed at the thought of losing his mind and acting like a cat.

"Act like a cat? What do you mean?" she asked obviously very confused.

"It's better to just show you. I asked Nabiki to tape it the last time I lost it." she shrugged and grabbed a tape and put it in the TV/VCR combination in the corner of the room. "I think this time only happened because I told her to tape it. She probably paid Shampoo to do it so I would buy the tape and pay for her services." she frowned.

The screen flickered and lit up with the image of Shampoo throwing an open bag of catnip on Ranma spraying it all over him and opening a box full of cats. Ranma screamed and tried to run away but was overwhelmed by the rush of cats. He lied there covered in cats and twitching, moments later he meowed and sprang up. He batted all the cats away and attacked Shampoo shredding her clothes and the box. Akane appeared and kicked Shampoo into the sky then smiled and beckoned Ranma-neko over. Ranma hesitated for a sec then jumped up on her lap and started cuddling and purring. Then he raised his head and kissed Akane then went to sleep.

"Er, they mostly taped it to prove I actually kissed Akane. When I'm that way I have no control and when I snap out of it I don't remember what I did." he chuckled and blushed.

"I don't know whether to say that was manly or not." Nodoka said confused.

"Manly has nothing to do with it! I have absolutely no control over that! It's all pop's fault. Him and his stupid training methods." Ranma grumbled and looked away.

"I see. I guess I can overlook this minor flaw, or at least on your part. Genma had better have a good excuse for such a dishonorable act. To put his own son through such horrible training." she fumed making a mental note to speak with Genma about this.

"Minor flaw my foot. I think you should hear of his OTHER "dishonorable" acts." Ranma proceeded to list all of Genma's offenses such as dining and ditching, lying, stealing, and making contracts involving Ranma. Nodoka gasped in horror at some of the descriptions of such incidents. After about half an hour of listing offenses Nodoka looked ready to kill her husband.

"So now I'm engaged to 3 different women, I have this silly curse, I have a stupid fear of c-c-cats due to the neko-ken and I lack in social skills all thanks to pop and his "training". I can't say I disliked the ACTUAL training but all the other stuff he did in the name of martial arts training is inexcuseable." Ranma finished sadly with a sigh and tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Ranma. I didn't know. I never knew the things he was doing, he didn't mention any of it in his letters home." Nodoka's eyes were starting to tear up too.

"To top it all off. I never knew you were still alive. The whole time I thought I didn't have a mother. Pops was all I had." Ranma's tears finally managed to free themselves of their eyelash cages and make their way to her chin.

"I can't believe that man!" Nodoka flared up and grasped her katana firmly. "Next time I see your father he will pay dearly for what he has put you through." she calmed down and thought for a moment. "Ranma, I'm sorry I haven't been in your life until now. From this point on I will be the best mother I can possibly be. No more stupid contracts involving honor or manliness. As for your curse..." she stopped for a moment put down her katana and moved up closer to Ranma and held her in her arms.

"As for your curse, I don't care. In fact, I always wanted a daughter. Now I have both a son and a daughter and I didn't even have to bear both of them." she giggled a little and smiled. Ranma wrapped her arms around her mother and cried. "You are right, being manly doesn't matter when you are a girl. Actually it probably doesn't matter much when you are a boy either. I've seen how you are and whichever form you take, you are above what I expect of a son. Now as for what I expect of my daughter..." she smirked at Ranma and giggled a little. "Don't worry about it. We can talk about this more some other time. I need to think." she released Ranma from her embrace and started to get ready for bed.

"Oh, Ranma? Why exactly can't you change back right now?" she asked with a look of concern on her face.

"Um, it's kinda not really something I wanna talk about." Ranma blushed and looked away.

"Oh, i see." she knew exactly what Ranma meant. "So you are capable of having children then." she smiled widely and giggled.

"MOM!" Ranma blushed and went completely under her covers and Nodoka bursts into a full laugh. Soon she quieted down and they both went to sleep.

* * *

Morning came all too soon for Ranma and she wasn't even given the chance to sleep in. 

"Wake up, Ranma. We have a lot of stuff to do today. I wanted to talk to you a little bit and then go out and run some errands with you." Nodoka grinned widely with a slight look of mischief on her face. "Hurry up and get dressed. If you take too long you wont get breakfast!"

With that Ranma quickly got up and got dressed in her usual shorts and tanktop. Nodoka saw this and frowned.

"You aren't planning on going out like that are you?" she asked sternly.

"Why not? I always go out like this. " Ranma said confused.

"I will not have my daughter go out in public dressed like that! Put on some proper clothing. If you go out like that you are just putting on a show for all the boys that see you." she pointed out as she looked through Ranma's clothing. "Here wear this, this, this and this." she said handing Ranma a pile of clothes consisting of a plain black bra, black panties, a simple green dress and a cute black pair of girl's shoes.

"Your daughter?" She blinked. "Why do I gotta wear girl's clothes? I thought we were just running errands?" Ranma looked at her mother not knowing what she was up to.

"Well, as you said last night, you are a girl right now. So from now on, you need to start learning how to be a proper woman. That includes dressing properly. Unless you didn't mean what you said last night? I thought you were confused and didn't know what you were. I'm going to help you. You are neither man nor woman right now. Since you can be either, I will teach you how to properly BE both." she eyed him warily.

"I never said i wanted to be a girl! I want to be a guy! I AM a guy!" Ranma retorted.

"Don't look like much of a guy at the moment." she grinned wickedly. "Before you can say you are a man you need to realize the fact, you have a chance to choose which you become. You are BOTH male and female. Don't worry, I'm not turning you into a girl. You already are one." she giggled as Ranma dressed while glaring at her. "Consider this a challenge. Are you MANLY enough to acknowledge the fact you are also a girl? As far as you told me there is no cure, and there will be times you won't have hot water readily available to change yourself back. I won't let you continue dressing as you do while female. Unless, of course, you rather I hold you to your original contract?" she grasped her katana.

"So what, are you going to school me on how to be a woman or something?" Ranma cringed at this concept. "I'm warning you, I won't put on makeup or act all girly or somethin' like that. I'm a guy!"

"Of course, you are a boy. I just want you to come to terms with the fact you may live with this curse for the rest of your life. Due to the mere fact the curse seems to attract cold water, you will probably end up spending just as much if not more of your remaining life as a girl than a boy whether you like it or not." she said matter of factly.

"Fine. Just don't expect me to become some kinda girly girl or somethin' like that. I ain't gonna go girly." Ranma was now fully dressed in female garb. Nodoka nodded in approval and smiled at her.

"Of course not dear. Let's go eat breakfast so we can get going." she said.

They headed downstairs to find Kasumi setting the table as breakfast was nearly finished. "Oh my, you look nice today Ranma. Could you please help me set the table?" Kasumi asked politely while smiling, something of amusement in her eyes.

"Sure, Kasumi. I'd be glad to help." Ranma smiled and took over the job of setting the table. Ranma's hands quickly distributed the dishes and utensils around the table before Kasumi even made it to the kitchen. "I'll tell everyone breakfast is almost ready." she said through the doorway to the kitchen as she turned and called up the stairs. She proceeded to the dojo to get Akane, knowing that she would be practicing in the dojo. Sure enough, she reached the dojo to find Akane breaking blocks. "Akane, breakfast is almost ready. You have enough time to take a quick bath."

"Ok thanks, Ranma." Akane looked up and noticed Ranma in a dress looking very feminine. "What's with the dress? Goin' on a date with some guy?" she said, sarcastically.

"I don't date guys, stupid tomboy." Ranma retorted sticking out her tongue. "Mom made me dress like this. Says I need to start dressing like a proper woman. She wants me to learn how to be a woman or something. Says I need to accept the fact I'm part girl and this will help me accept the curse or something.

"Why would she do that? I thought she wanted you to be a man amongst men. I don't think it's very manly to dress like a girl or learn to be a woman." she stated, too confused to get angry at the stupid tomboy remark.

"We had a big talk last night. I ended up telling her everything pops did on our training trip. She didn't much care for most of the things I told her. I think it hurt her most when I told her that I didn't know she was alive until she suddenly appeared a few months ago." she looked at the ground. "Mom wants to spend some time with me and get to know me. She has accepted that I am both a girl and a boy and wants to teach me about being a woman so I'll be able to cope with my curse better. I'm a guy but she says I can choose to be either. My portion of the "Man amongst men" contract no longer applies. Afterall, how can I be a man amongst men when half the time I'm a girl?" she giggled a little and turned away. "You better take your bath, won't be long before breakfast is ready." With that she walked back inside leaving a somewhat confused Akane behind.

A little while later breakfast was ready. Soun sat at the head of the table with Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane to his left. Nodoka and Ranma sat to his right. They had a typical japanese breakfast laid out before them. Large portions of Rice, Miso soup, Nattou and grilled fish sat in front of Ranma. She proceeded to eat in the normal fashion, very quickly, when Nodoka promptly stopped her by grabbing her by the pig-tail and pulling her away from the meal.

"Ranma! You need to eat more elegantly. Slow down and pace yourself. Not only is it not ladylike but it can cause indigestion. It's also disrespectful to the cook to eat it so quickly." she let go of Ranma's pig-tail and started to eat her food at much slower rate than Ranma had been eating.

"Sorry mom." Ranma slowed to a similar pace to her mother. Everyone at the table looked shocked at the fact Nodoka just scolded Ranma for being unladylike.

"You need to refer to me as mother, not mom" Nodoka glared at Ranma.

"Yes, mother." Ranma looked annoyed.

"Ok, who are you two and what did you do with the real Auntie and Ranma?" Nabiki asked, her eyes wide in confusion and shock.

"You are so funny, Nabiki." Nodoka smiled. "Last night Ranma and I had a little talk. I decided he is not to be held accountable for his upbringing. I haven't been there for him til now and after all she told me about Genma I see how difficult it has been for her. I have accepted her curse but now i have to help her reconcile it herself. Can you imagine the torment of not knowing which gender you are? Sure she was born male but now being both must be very hard on her. I decided the best way to help her get more used to being a girl would be to show her HOW to be a girl. Of course, I won't force her to do anything she doesn't want to but I'm sure she will be cooperative." she clutched her katana a bit teasingly. "Besides, I always DID want a daughter." she blushed. Ranma looked embarrased.

"I see. So in otherwords, a little mother daughter bonding is in order?" Nabiki grinned evily deciding to herself to be a shadow today. 'This should be interesting.' she thought to herself. "So I guess that means the whole man amongst men thing is no longer relavent?"

"Of course, I can't hold Ranma to the contract. When she is a boy she more than fulfills her portion of the contract anyways so I'm not disappointed." she smiled proudly as Ranma did as well. "We are going shopping after breakfast. Kasumi dear, I'm going to have to ask you to please allow us to clear the table."

Kasumi thought for a moment then replied, "May I come with you today? Ever since I met Ranma I've wanted to take her clothes shopping for some reason." Kasumi beamed a thoughtful smile at Nodoka and Ranma. Ranma shivered a little at the concept of going shopping with two girls.

"I don't see why not." Nodoka nodded to Kasumi.

"Oh geez, this is like a nightmare." Ranma fumed. "You plan to turn me into a girl don't you? I already said I'm a guy! I don't plan on bein' no girl!"

"Now Ranma, it'll only be a few outfits. Just so you can get used to wearing female clothing. Honestly, it's indecent to go around as a girl dressed in a tanktop and shorts! It's just crude. You need to learn a bit of modesty." Nodoka glared at her.

"Don't worry, Ranma. We won't make you get anything TOO girly." Kasumi smirked with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "That doesn't mean we can't have a little fun with you while we are there." she giggled and Nodoka joined in. Ranma sank into the floor in an attempt to hide herself from the embarassment.

Akane was shocked beyond belief. She just ate silently not sure what to make of the events unfolding in front of her. Just what was Nodoka trying to do? Breakfast was soon finished and Nodoka and Ranma cleared the table. Nodoka nodded approvingly as Ranma cleaned and put away the dishes. Once they were finished Kasumi joined them in the entryway and they left to go shopping.

* * *

The three girls made their way through the shopping district and finally found their target area. Women's clothing stores lined both sides of the street and like most female shoppers do... they decided to check out each and every one of them. Nodoka stopped for a moment and whispered something to Kasumi. Kasumi nodded and they both turned around and gave Ranma a menacing look. 

"Ok Ranma. Our first stop will be underwear." Nodoka said with a sinister grin plastered on her face. Ranma turned pale and started to turn around only to be stopped by the blade of Nodoka's katana. "Now, daughter, you promised you would cooperate." Ranma reluctantly turned around and Nodoka grabbed her hand and pulled her along. They finally found their way to the underwear section. "Do you know your sizes?" she asked Ranma, Ranma nodded and murmered her sizes. Ranma was blushing profusely as the other two girls picked through the assortments of bras and panties slowly creating a pile for Ranma to try on. Once they had a large enough pile the dragged Ranma to the changing room and pushed her inside with the pile of undergarments. Unfortunately for Ranma the changing room was large enough for Kasumi and Nodoka to enter with her. They held up the various garments to the now naked Ranma and looked at her in the mirror. They made Ranma select ten combinations of undergarments.

"I thought you said you wouldn't make me get anything too girly?" Ranma said glaring at the two women.

"We did, and this isn't "too girly"." Kasumi left the room and came back in a moment with a black lace bra with and panty combination that was slightly transparent. "Now THIS I believe would be more suitable to consider "Too girly". So don't fuss and pick through what we put here." Kasumi then grinned evilly. "It wouldn't do any harm to get this too. You know, just to have, in case you decide to use it." she winked. Ranma begrudgingly grabbed it and held it over herself only to see it in the mirror and blush deeply. She shoved it and her other selections into a shopping basket and redressed to continue shopping. After a few more hours of shopping and 10 outfits later, they finally made their way home after making a quick stop for ice cream.

"So, Ranma, did you have fun shopping?" Nodoka asked as they put away their purchases.

"I-I suppose. Not sure i want to go again any time soon, it was far too embarassing. I guess once we got out of the underwear section it was kinda fun. Kasumi really surprised me with some of her suggestions." Ranma blushed remembering a few of the suggestions, particularly one dress that was mostly see through.

"I thought it was a very nice dress. She should have gotten one for herself." Nodoka commented remembering how forceful Kasumi was in her efforts to persuade Ranma to buy it. "Oh, that reminds me, we are going to cook dinner together. Go make sure Kasumi doesn't try to start cooking. I'll be down in a little to start, just wait for me." Ranma nodded and went downstairs to ward off Kasumi from the kitchen. As soon as Ranma was down the stairs Akane entered the room and shut the door behind her.

"Auntie, what are you doing with Ranma." she asked in a demanding tone. "You know very well Ranma doesn't need to learn how to be a real woman." she glared at Nodoka.

"Akane, I haven't been in Ranma's life since he was taken away on that stupid training journey. Because of my negligence, I let my husband cause irreparable damage to him. He is scared of me as a male. The only time he was ever somewhat comfortable was when he pretended to be Ranko. I do believe helping him accept his female form more completely will benefit him later. He is still young and has the chance to decide for himself how he wants to view his condition. He can view it as a curse or as a gift. No one else has the chance to experience what it's like from both gender standpoints. From what I see, he tries to see himself as all man but for some reason doubts that. Until he opens up and lets us know exactly what his feelings are, we should support him in any way possible. Even if he decides to be a woman instead of a man. He has more than fulfilled his promises to me. In either form, he is the most likely the best martial artist of our era and I really can't see that changing any time soon. Also, in either form, he can continue our family line and carry on the school."

"But what about our engagement? Or engagements for that matter. He has two fiancees by agreement with Genma and one forced by amazon law. How is the Saotome clan going to handle that if he decides not to marry one of us?" Akane looked distraught and confused. She couldn't handle the thought of losing Ranma even though she wouldn't openly admit it.

"We will just have to wait and see, I could always nullify the arranged marriages. Genma originally had no clan. He declared himself a ronin at a young age and left home to find his own name and honor. As things stand, he may be expelled from the clan unless he can restore his honor." Nodoka fumed as she said the last sentence. It was clear Genma wouldn't be welcome back into her life as long as his name was tarnished by the dishonorable deeds he had commited. "I wouldn't worry too much about it Akane. He does seem to care for you a great deal. His father raised him to not express those types of emotions. Fear, sadness, modesty and love. He can't properly express these feelings because of his father. The whole reason I'm going to teach him to be a real woman is to open him to his emotions that his father shut off and hopefully undo some of the damage he has done."

"I just hope you are right. I have some concerns of my own but I'd rather not go into them right now. Thanks for talking with me Auntie."

- End flashback -

* * *

- Present - 

"Bakusai Tenketsu!" Ryouga shouted as he destroyed the ground below his feet creating a slight smoke screen. He then lunged at Ranma and shouted, "Fang Snap!" as he brought his right fist up in an upper cut followed by bringing his left straight down from above so fast it was nearly instantaneous. Ranma somehow managed to dodge both blows but was hit by what appeared to be a wolf bite in the form of ki. Ranma managed to lighten the blow as he noticed the ki attack at the last moment. "How'd you like that, Ranma?" Ranma slid backwards from the blow but regained his balance, the front of his shirt ripped apart yet he was relatively undamaged.

"Hey, come on Ryouga, why do you always destroy my shirts?" Ranma re-assumed his no-stance position and chuckled. "You know Ryouga, you aren't the only one that learned a few new tricks." Ranma jumped towards Ryouga and shouted, "Tsume no gyakujyou!" (Claw frenzy) and slashed at ryouga several times with his fingers spread like a cat's claws. Several trails of claw marks appeared in Ryouga's shirt as it ripped apart. Ryouga ripped his shirt the rest of the way off and tossed it aside.

"I see you have mastered the neko-ken. Good, that should make this more of a challenge." Ryouga seemlingly disappeared for a moment then reappeared beside Ranma and kicked at his side. Ranma easily lept out of the way but hit by a random spray of water from a sprinkler triggering his transformation. Ranma stood up and stared at Ryouga for a few moments. Suddenly Ranma let out an uncharacteristic yelp and quickly covered her now exposed breasts and quickly ran away. Ryouga stood there blinking, confused with a small trickle of blood running from his nose. "What just happened?" he asked still confused that not only did Ranma run away but she acted like a real girl.

"It's a long story Ryouga. Come on I'll take you to the dojo." Akane grabbed Ryouga by the hand and led him towards the dojo. He still hadn't come out of the shock of what just happened.

"Is it just me or was Ranma blushing?" Ryouga asked remembering seeing the pigtailed-girl blush very brightly as she stared at him before running away.

"I'm sure it was just your imagination." Akane had seen it too but didn't want to admit it. 'Why was she blushing? Is it part of her newfound feminine modesty? She never blushes when daddy walks in on her when shes dressing.' A series of questions ran through her mind. She then remembered she hadn't explained what had happened just happened to Ryouga. "About what just happened. After the failed wedding. Ranma and his mother had a talk and she decided to teach him about being a girl to hopefully make him more attuned to his emotions. So Ranma has gotten used to acting somewhat more feminine. Among many other things." Akane still couldn't understand how they talked Ranma into sometimes wearing make-up and spending scheduled time as female. "She made Ranma stay a girl for three whole months and trained her in the basics of being a girl."

"Hah, must have been pure torture for him. I almost pity him. Can't say he didn't deserve it." Ryouga smirked.

"Actually Ranma didn't seem to mind. He seemed somewhat broken after the wedding. I think Auntie actually managed to save him from losing his mind. He has changed a lot since then. He's barely the Ranma we knew before. He's not so arrogant anymore. He helps clean the house, does laundry and even cooks. He also started training me about three months ago. I've gotten about as good as Ukyou since then."

They reached the Tendo dojo and went inside. Akane sat Ryouga down in the dojo and went to look for Ranma. She came up to his room and saw Ranma still in girl-form sitting curled up in the corner.

"What happened back there Ranma? Why did you run off in the middle of a fight? That's not like you." Akane moved close to Ranma confused at his actions.

"I don't know, Akane. I don't know why I ran away. I feel really strange right now. I can't really talk to you about it. Could you please find my mother and ask her to come see me?" Ranma's voice was quivering slightly.

"Sure thing, Ranma." Akane knew she couldn't help Ranma. Even though she was able to express her emotions better she still didn't openly discuss them with anyone but Nodoka. Moments later Nodoka came rushing into the room and closed the door behind her.

"I'm here Ranma, what's the matter dear?" Nodoka held Ranma and soothed her.

"I don't know. This has never happened before. I was sparring with Ryouga and we were having a good time. He ripped the front of my shirt and I shredded his. I dodged one of his attacks and was hit by a spray of cold water. When I looked at him I froze. I felt warm and couldn't stop staring at him. Then I noticed my breasts were hanging out of my shirt and I covered up and ran away. I've never run away from a fight like that before. I've run away before but that was only to buy some time to think of a strategy. This time I just ran and didn't look back." Ranma was shaking. She was terribly confused with her actions and the feeling she had. "I feel really weird."

"I think I'll have a talk with Ryouga. Why don't you just rest. Maybe take a little nap." Ranma nodded and lied down to take a nap. She was exhausted from mental stress and soon fell asleep. Nodoka went into the dojo to talk to Akane and Ryouga. "What exactly happened?" Nodoka asked Ryouga.

"Well we were just fighting like we normally do when I return from a training trip. We both showed off new attacks and I sliced his shirt and he destroyed mine. I went to attack him again and he dodged but was hit by a spray of water. After that he just stood there for a bit looking at me then he actually yelped, covered up and ran away. I've never seen him act like that. What exactly did you do to him?" Ryouga seemed a little upset that his only decent sparring partner Ranma away from the fight and seemingly wasn't acting normal.

"I didn't do anything that wouldn't have happened naturally. Eventually Ranma's feminine side would have developed I merely helped speed up the process and possibly saved him many years of suffering. It's a little strange how you describe his actions though. You say she stared at you for a few seconds then "yelped" and ran away?" Nodoka strained in thought.

"Yes, I actually think she may have been blushing too. Akane thinks I was imagining it but I'm pretty sure she was." He thought back on the incident and was absolutely certain he had seen Ranma blushing. 'Why would she have been blushing? Ah I see, the torn shirt must have been embarassing. Wow he's really acting like a girl.' "Does he always act... um, girly like that?"

"No, he typically acts just like normal Ranma minus a few of his old bad habits. The bigest changes are in the way he acts when he turns into a girl. Honestly, I think he's become even more feminine than I am." Akane said, slightly annoyed while looking down at the ground. "Well, I have to go. I promised Sayuri I would bring her homework to her, she was out sick today." With that Akane left. Nodoka quietly left the room as well thinking to herself. Ryouga did a few katas while thinking about what happened earlier. After a little while he felt he wanted to spar.

'Ranma sure is acting strange now. Maybe he's back to himself now and will spar with me.' Ryouga thought as he got up to search for Ranma. After about half an hour of mindless roaming through the house he finally found his way to Ranma's room. He silently snuck in as he noticed Ranma was lying on futon, possibly asleep. He crept up to the futon and whispered to Ranma. "Hey Ranma, are you awake?" After a moment of no response he turned to silently sneak out the door.

"Ryouga." Ranma was talking in her sleep.

"Hmm?" Ryouga turned around and crept back up to Ranma. He determined she was still asleep. 'Hmm must be talking in her sleep.' He turned around again to exit when Ranma spoke again.

"Don't leave me Ryouga." Ranma reached up and grabbed him around the waist pulling him onto the futon next to her.

'Ack what's going on?! Is she dreaming about me or something? I gotta get out of here.' Ryouga trying to free himself from her grasp but was afraid of waking her in this awkward position. Thankfully she had changed into a new blouse.

"No Ryouga, you can't go. I love you." Ranma cried in her sleep.

'Oh my god!' Ryouga's eyes opened wide in shock as he quickly broke free of her grasp and ran out of the room in a panic.


	2. Matured?

Disclaimer: Insert standard disclaimer here 

A/N: Sorry been so long since I updated. Wasn't sure I liked how I had written this chapter at first. After reading several dozen more fanfics and completely exhausting the Onna-Ranma C2 collection I have more insight as to what I want to write here. Oddly enough... after 2 months of having this chapter completed and lying in wait... I decided I didn't need to change anything! So yea, sorry about that. Anyways... enjoy this chapter and expect another soon.

* * *

Evening came to the tendo home. Nodoka came to wake Ranma from her nap as dinner was nearly ready. She walked into the bedroom to see Ranma lying in her futon hugging her pillow tightly. She grinned and lightly shook her.

"Ranma, it's time to wake up for dinner dear." Ranma's eyes slowly opened. She stood up and stretched then rubbed her eyes. "Take a bath and get changed, dinner should be ready soon." Nodoka left the room to help finish preparations. Ranma got up and went to take a bath.

'Ugh, why did I have that kind of a dream. Makes me sick just thinking about it. Stupid Ryouga.' Ranma blushed after thinking of Ryouga and the dream she had. She made it to the bath and undressed and began to wash with warm water, not quite warm enough to trigger the change back to male. 'Stupid curse. Stupid body. Why do I have do be attracted to guys. I don't like em' like that when I'm a guy so why did I act like that.' she has noticed in the past few months that while female she "checks out" guys subconsciously. For the past year she has felt somewhat uncomfortable around guys while in female form as well. 'Stupid stupid curse! I don't wanna be attracted to guys!' she finished bathing and slowly stepped into the furo. Ranma groaned as she didn't change back.

"Great, perfect timing." she grumbled to herself as she sank into the water to soak. 'I hope Ryouga isn't still around. I don't know if I can handle being around him like this. It's like my body has betrayed me.' After soaking for a while she got up, dried off and dressed to head to the dinner table. When Ranma finally made it to the dinner table everyone else was already seated and waiting. "I'm sorry, did you wait long?" she asked.

"No dear, in fact we all just sat down a few moments ago. Come, sit by me." Nodoka said smiling as Ranma noticed Ryouga at the table. Nodoka motioned to the spot between her and Ryouga. Ryouga had been looking down at the table until he heard Nodoka talk to Ranma. He looked up at Ranma and their eyes locked momentarily. Ryouga blushed and looked back down at the table. Ranma blushed as well and looked at the floor then proceeded to walk and sit down. The family noticed this display and Nodoka and Kasumi both smiled. Nabiki had a look of intrigue on her face and Akane just looked confused.

"What's the deal with you two?" Nabiki asked leaning on the table with her hand under her chin and an eyebrow raised.

"What are you talking about, Nabiki?" Ranma asked looking down to the table.

"I'm talking about that little display the two of you just put on." Nabiki persisted in her interrogation. "Is there something going on between the two of you that we should know about?" she smirked hoping to extract any relevant information.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Ranma staring blankly with an annoyed look in her eyes.

"Y-yea, there's n-nothing going on at all Nabiki." Ryouga laughed suspiciously. Kasumi had finished serving the meal and they promptly began eating. Ryouga ate as quickly as he could. He dismissed himself and headed in the direction he thought was the dojo but was really the kitchen.

"Spill it Ranma, the two of you are acting awfully strange." Nabiki glared at the pig-tailed girl. "Why are you still a girl anyways?"

"I don't wanna talk about it, and I told you. There is nothing going on." Ranma glared back equally intensely.

"Ranma, you're acting strange today. Are you feeling ok?" Akane asked in concern. "Why did you run away from the fight earlier? I've never seen you do that before."

"I transformed and my shirt was ripped, what was i supposed to do? Fight with my chest hanging out?" Ranma fumed.

"No, but you at least could have finished the match first." Akane yelled back.

"Whatever, I'm going for a walk." Ranma got up and left and Akane stomped off to the dojo.

"Oh my, what was that all about?" Kasumi asked in general, not really expecting an answer.

* * *

Ranma arrived at the Neko-hanten to be greeted by Shampoo.

"Ni hao, Ranma. You come take Shampoo to date, yes?" she glomped Ranma.

"No, Shampoo. I need to talk to the old ghoul." Ranma squeaked unable to breath. "C-can't breathe." Shampoo noticed Ranma turning a dark shade of blue and let go of her. she gasped for air.

"Well, hello son-in-law." Cologne seemingly appeared out of no where behind Ranma causing her to leap in surprise landing in Shampoo's arms. Cologne laughed, "Even at my ripe old age I can still easily sneak up on you. It would appear more training is in order. Now, what is it you wished to speak with me about, son-in-law?"

"I need to speak with you in private." she climbed out of Shampoo's arms and followed Cologne towards a back room, Shampoo attempted to follow. "I said "alone" Shampoo."

"Grand-daughter don't you have a restaurant to take care of?" Cologne hit Shampoo on the head with her staff. "Get going! You have customers waiting." Shampoo grumbled and went into the kitchen. Once in the room Cologne shut the door and Ranma sat in a chair by a small wooden table.

"I want you to tell me everything you know about my curse. Lately I've been having some strange feelings I had never had before. I think it's due to the curse." she explained as Cologne stood on her staff listening.

"Well what sort of strange feelings have you been having?" Cologne raised an eyebrow.

"Well for example, earlier today Ryouga came back to town and challenged me to a duel as has become our normal greeting. I was in male form and we started fighting. He attacked me and tore my shirt so I counter attacked and shredded his. He attacked me and I dodged only to be sprayed with cold water by a sprinkler and transformed into a girl. I turned to him to retaliate but when I saw him I froze. My stomach felt weird and I felt hot all over. When I regained myself I paniced and ran. Of course, I had to get home to change my shirt anyways because mine was ripped and my chest was hanging out." she cringed remembering the events. Cologne merely cackled after hearing this.

"Sounds perfectly normal to me son-in-law. It's only normal for you to be attracted to some men while in female form. It's your hormones. Ironic you seem to have taken a liking to Ryouga considering the koi rod incident" Cologne continued to cackle.

"What are you talking about? I'm not attracted to guys! No way! How can I all of a sudden start liking guys? I've been cursed for nearly 2 years now and I didn't start having these problems til a few months ago." she paced back and forth both angry and somewhat scared of the concept of liking guys. "What is happening to me ghoul? Is my girl side taking over? I swear this is all mother's fault!"

"No, son-in-law. I do believe you have finally matured as a woman. All of your feelings you have are just your hormones reacting. Your girl side is fully active now. Meaning you can have children and you will find yourself to be physically attracted to men just as you are attracted to women while a man." Cologne explained while Ranma paled. "In otherwords, you are a fully functional woman." She cackled loudly.

"So I'm going to start liking guys?" Ranma's eyes were wide in fear.

"To be more precise, you are already **_physically _**attracted to men. Whether you act on this or not is dependant merely on your mind and what you ultimately choose. Based on what you told me earlier, you seem to be attracted to Ryouga subconsciously. Seems somewhat fitting seeing as how close you two are while you are a man. This could pose a problem for us. You merely need to get used to being attracted to men, it's common to be shy when you don't understand what is happening with your body. That's probably why you ran away when you saw Ryouga without his shirt. He could clearly see your exposed chest and he is a fine specimen of man, if I do say so myself, so naturally your body and subconscious mind reacted in embarassment to him seeing you exposed. This is a problem for us, however. You need to come to terms with your curse or you may go insane." Cologne looked troubled. "There is no cure for the curse, son-in-law. I haven't told you this until now so you would have hope and keep training, but since your female side has matured you need to know. You will be this way for the REST of your life."

With this Ranma promptly fainted. Cologne expected this reaction and called Mousse to carry her home, however, he didn't have his glasses on and attempted to carry away a bag of rice.

"That's a bag of rice you near-sighted fool. Put on your glasses." Cologne smacked him on the head with her staff. He noticed the bag of rice and put it back then picked up Ranma's body and carried her home.

* * *

Back at the Tendo dojo, Ryouga was sitting by himself in the dojo in meditation. He was contemplating what had happened earlier in the day. He linked together the incidents from the day. Ranma blushed, yelped like a girl and ran away during the fight when he transformed. Then Ranma had a dream in which she talked in her sleep saying she loves him.

'Ranma how can you have those kinds of feelings for me? You are still a guy aren't you? Or did the curse finally take you over?' Ryouga thought to himself feeling sorry for Ranma, believing the curse had taken over his mind. 'I'm sorry but I can't return those feelings. I love Akane.' he paused his thoughts for a moment.' Oh no, if Ranma is in love with me then what about Akane! She is in love with him. It's hard enough to stand between them knowing how they feel for each other but if Ranma really is in love with me... Akane will hate me! I can't stay here anymore!' Ryouga lept from the dojo but failed to realize it was raining outside and transformed. While he was attempting to free himself of his waterlogged clothing Akane walked into the dojo.

"Ryouga? Where did you go?" she looked around the dojo.

'Oh no if she sees finds me by my clothes she will know the truth! I'll have to distract her.' Ryouga quickly escaped his clothing, pulled his pack by the dojo wall and ran over to Akane jumping in her arms.

"P-chan! Where have you been?" She saw Ryouga's pack by the dojo wall. "I guess Ryouga is out for a walk." she shrugged and walked back in with P-chan in her arms. "Come on P-chan, I'll get you a snack." she smiled at the piglet as it blushed.

A few minutes later Mousse arrived at the Tendo dojo to be greeted by Kasumi.

"Oh my, what happened? Kasumi asked concerned.

"As far as I'm told she fainted in shock at something that dried up monkey told her." Mousse explained bringing Ranma inside. He brought Ranma to her room and placed her on a futon, Kasumi proceeded to tend to her. "I believe they were discussing her curse. I may have problems seeing but my hearing is excellent so I overheard some of their conversation from the next room. Something about having matured as a woman and being this way for the rest of her life. Not exactly sure what they were talking about but it has nothing to do with me." Mousse shrugged and made his way out and headed back to the Nekohanten.

Akane overheard what had happened in the hallway and came to see what was going on. She saw Ranma asleep in her futon with Kasumi caring for her.

"What happened to Ranma?" she asked in concern, still clutching P-chan in her arms. P-chan also looked on in worry.

"Mousse says Ranma was talking to Cologne about her curse. Something about having matured as a woman and being this way for the rest of her life. I wonder what she meant by that." Kasumi answered.

"You don't think... Ranma's curse isn't locked is it?" Akane ran downstairs and got a kettle of hot water and brought it back upstairs. She poured the hot water over Ranma's head waking her up in the process but she didn't change back.

"Huh? What happened?" Ranma looked a bit confused. She then remembered the last thing Cologne said and paled. "I think i'm gonna be sick."

"Oh no, Ranma. How did your curse get locked again?" Akane paled, afraid the man she loved was stuck as a woman forever.

"What?" Ranma noticed the kettle and the fact she was wet. "Oh great you found out. Don't worry, Akane, this is only temporary." she sighed and turned away.

"But then, why are you locked? What did Cologne mean by matured as a woman and that you would be like this forever?"

"What? She told you?" Ranma screamed.

"No, Mousse overheard some of the conversation but he didn't know exactly what it was about. If you aren't locked then why didn't you change back? What did she mean by "final stage" and that you will be this way for the rest of your life?" she pressed on still mostly concerned but boardering annoyed.

"I don't really wanna talk about it, but don't worry. In a few days I'll be able to change back, it's nothing to worry about." Ranma explained lying back down still turned away from Akane.

"Please don't worry about me. Thanks for worrying but I'll be fine." Kasumi nodded to Ranma and left the room. Akane stayed for a bit longer still wanting to talk to Ranma.

"Are you sure everything's fine, Ranma? You've been acting strange all day. Now I find out you are stuck as a girl and you won't even tell me why. I'm your fiancee and believe it or not I am worried about you." she somewhat yelled the last part while blushing.

"I know, Akane. I'm sorry but I really don't want to talk about it. I need some time to think is all. Don't worry, you'll find out soon or later anyways. I'd like to be alone now." Ranma was quite clearly depressed and hadn't even noticed P-chan in Akane's arms.

"Fine, I'm only trying to help. Jerk!" Akane stormed out of the room leaving Ranma to her thoughts.

'What is going on with me? Am I really becoming a real girl? But I'm still the same when a guy! I can't be both a guy and a girl... can I? Insane she said... I'm gonna go insane! No one makes it through the final stage without going nuts. These dreams aren't helping either. WHY RYOUGA?' She pounded the ground with her fists in frustration, being careful not to destroy the floorboards. Ranma continued in silent contemplation and soon was overtaken by sleep.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter I will flashback to the feminine training!


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